Suba Seeds to Acquire Brotherton Seed

NEW YORK and MOSES LAKE, Wash., July 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Suba Seeds USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Suba Seeds Group B.V. ("Suba Seeds" or "Suba"), a leading specialty vegetable and legume seed producer and a Paine & Partners, LLC ("Paine & Partners") portfolio company, today announced that it has acquired Brotherton Seed Company, Inc., ("Brotherton Seed" or "Brotherton"). Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Established in 1936, Brotherton Seed is a leading independent breeder and producer of high quality pea and bean seeds for the North American processing market. Brotherton Seed operates two production facilities in Central Washington State and has a long history of innovation and R&D, particularly in the area of pea improvement and in pioneering development of multi-podded pea varieties suitable for commercial use. From facilities in Moses Lake and Quincy, Washington, and supported by a network of thousands of acres of qualified seed growers across the Pacific Northwest, Brotherton Seed services commercial customers across North America.

Jerome Brotherton, Managing Director of Brotherton Seed, will continue to support Brotherton's development as a full-time consultant under Suba's ownership, and Brotherton's entire team will join the Suba platform.

Marcello Tumedei, Chief Executive Officer of Suba, said, "We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Brotherton Seed, which further expands Suba's presence in the U.S. market and its position in large seed vegetable production, globally. We see significant growth potential in this combination, driven by cross selling and production opportunities, both by leveraging the expanded grower network and through expanding Suba's offering to its international customer base. We look forward to welcoming the talented Brotherton Seed team to the Suba Seeds family and to working with them to capitalize on those opportunities."

"We are excited to become part of Suba Seeds, an international leader in seed production with the scale and experience to take our business to the next level, both domestically and abroad," said Jerome Brotherton, Managing Director of Brotherton Seed. "We are proud of what we have accomplished over Brotherton Seed's 80-year history and we are grateful to our employees, whose hard work enabled us to become the North American leader in our varieties. We have earned the confidence and trust of food processors and fresh market dealers across our markets and we are eager to extend this heritage as part of Suba." 

Angelos Dassios, Partner at Paine & Partners and member of the Board of Directors of Suba Seeds said, "The acquisition of Brotherton Seed is a great next step for Suba as it looks to expand its presence and differentiated offering in the growing global market for specialty vegetable seed. Paine & Partners is proud to support Suba Seeds and we look forward to leveraging our substantial in-house seed investment expertise to help Suba build on its competitive advantages and position the combined company for further growth."

About Suba Seeds
Suba Seeds is a leading producer, packer and distributor of specialty vegetable seeds for the professional, semi-professional, and hobby garden markets around the world, and a contract supplier to a diverse set of global seed companies. The company is the leading producer of coriander with a strong portfolio of core crops including varieties of beans, peas, radish, cabbage, alfalfa, carrots, chicory, and onion. Founded in 1974 in Italy, Suba today has operations in Italy, France and the United States.

About Paine & Partners
Paine & Partners is a private equity firm that focuses on complex investment opportunities in the fast-growing, dynamic global food and agribusiness sectors. Paine & Partners' team includes 25 investment, operations and finance professionals focused on investing globally across the food and agribusiness value chain and throughout cycles. The firm currently invests through its $893 million Paine & Partners Fund IV, which is solely dedicated to agribusiness investing. For further information, see www.painepartners.com.

Contacts:
Andy Brimmer / Aaron Palash
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
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SOURCE Suba Seeds